Done and Dusted

So that's it, trip done and dusted! I arrived home at about 8.30pm yesterday feeling a little worn out, mainly due to that nice Mr Traveldri, Les taking me on a rather long walk around Dartmoor before breakfast and then spending all morning helping him load up his van ready to head off to Peterborough for the BMF Tailend Rally! The weather was fairly kind to me in that whilst quite chill, the rain which kept threatening to dump on be big time, held off right through to Abergavenny where I had a light shower which continued on and off for the last 50 miles home; so no complaints there. A good nights sleep and I'm feeling in the finest of fettles and ready to start all over again with hardly the need to catch my breath…..

I then walk head on into a nice fresh controversy with my comment on the proposed new Horizons meeting being censored by Mr Harper. It’s a sad day when one cannot express one’s very reasonable (in my view!) concerns about dramatic changes in an event that I have supported whole heartedly for the last six or seven years.





With Taz and Joel at Villa San Rocco, Italy





Anyway, so what of The Trip?
For those of a nerdy disposition…..

Total milage covered 13,247 sorry but I didn’t keep a record of the amount of fuel used but my old girl was averaging about 45mpg

Countries visited: France, Spain, Switzerland (briefly), Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czech, Germany, Belgium, so all in all a bit of a tour of the EU !

In some ways I’m disappointed not to have made it to Turkey and Georgia but on the other hand I feel that I have seen far more, met more fantastic people and generally experienced more that on any other trip I have ever undertaken, so it certainly wasn’t a failure in any sense. I guess it’s just part of my psyche that I am always looking to do more, part of my restless spirit!

The fantastic Location for HU Greece Meeting

Best country: Without a doubt Greece, which was a complete revelation. From the ruins of Delphi to the Monasteries of Meteora; From the beaches of the Ionian, and Adriatic to the Mountain ranges right across the country, and just the overall friendliness of the people I met everywhere.



Joel getting painted by

Suzzane and Simon



Biggest Disappointment: Must be Romania, a country that I have long wanted to visit. Whilst there were some fantastic sites and moments in the country, overall, for me, it was just too “developed”. I still cannot believe or understand the amount of building going on there, but more surprising as I wrote some days ago is the sheer scale of the houses! It appears that every space along every road has been filled with a gigantic new home. So unless you take to the unmade gravel tracks, there is not a lot of countryside to be seen It is just mile after mile of urban chaos! I guess it is a salutary reminder not to take guide books too seriously; Lonely Planet says of the Maremures region that you are more likely to find a traffic jam made up of horse carts than of cars…. Well certainly there are still a lot of horse drawn carts on the roads although we never encountered a traffic jam of them, but there are also now so many cars that we did certainly encounter quite a few traffic jams of these !

Meteora, one of the many Highlights of Greece

What would I do differently next time? Mainly review the contents of my panniers and bags a little more closely. I certainly have at least 2/3rds of a pannier of kit that I took “just in case” but have never used. Some of this is of course tools, although many did get used on silly little thing that sort of drop off or break as you go along, but others will certainly get left in the cupboard next trip. Other than that I guess the only thing extra would be my pillion passenger who always enhances a trip beyond measure!



The house I so very bought in Bulgaria!



So I’ve now got about 6 to 8 weeks to sort myself and my life out before I hopefully, head off again! Where too? Uncertain at this moment, but there is a whole world out there to be explored and I’m going to do my best to see a lot more off it in the coming months and years.

To all those that have been following this blogspot, thanks for your support and occasional comments, it’s nice to know that there are one or two people out there who do actually read this rubbish!

Till the next Trip….Goodbye!





Rural Romania... When you can find it!



Barsana Monastery, undisputed highlight of Romania for me!